5 Tips to Claim Your Workers Compensation
What is workers compensation?
When you work for someone, you and your employer agree that you will receive wage replacement and medical benefits if work-related injuries take place. In return, you give up your right to sue your employer for any negligence in the workplace. Workers' Compensation is something that is mandatory for every employee and here are some tips for how to claim it.
Immediately report the injury to the supervisor
Quickly reporting workplace injuries is crucial. Depending on where you’re working and what you’re doing, compensation claims can vary slightly, but are mostly the same. You must be injured to claim Workers Compensation, and you can face legal repercussions for lying about a claim. The moment an injury happens in the workplace, you need to tell your supervisor about it. If time passes and your injury heals, it can be difficult to prove that you injured yourself while you were working.
Make sure your claim is filed properly
Paperwork must be completed not only by you, but by your employer as well. You will need to have your employer complete a “First Report of Injury.” This form must be filled in precisely and in detail, so make sure that your employer has written everything correctly, and check it at least two times. You will also need to request your records from your employer.
Make your own file and journal
Creating a file and journal for your own reference is probably the best and smartest thing to do. When you compare your personal records with your employer’s records, you can easily find inconsistencies and protect yourself from falsehoods that could lead to not getting your Workers’ Compensation claim approved. You will want to maintain a record of everything, from the hours and days you’ve worked to what you did in detail.
Additionally, make sure a document or journal all information relevant to the work-related injury. You want to record this as soon as possible because the longer you wait, the blurrier the details and important information become.
Read our article: Why is it important to report safety hazards at your workplace?
Seek medical attention as soon as you can
Seeking medical attention as soon as possible is a must. Otherwise, the insurance company handling the claim may not believe that the injury occurred as it happened, and they can easily avoid paying for your expenses. Get everything that the doctor has written about the injury, or at least a copy of those things. By doing so, not only will you be able to prove that the injury happened, but you will also have a time stamped reference to show when the injury happened.
Make sure to explain how you were hurt
You need to be completely honest about a workplace injury or illness, because these are delicate matters. By telling the whole story and having it written down by someone, as well as getting all the necessary records from your doctor, you will get your Workers’ Compensation claim approved. As long as you follow these steps, you should be in a good position to receive a workers' compensation claim. No one likes getting hurt on the job, but at least you will have some money for what will hopefully be a speedy recovery.
The impact of injury and illness
The biggest impact of workplace injury and illness is obviously on what we care about most: the people. Work-related injuries and illness can not only have long-lasting physical implications, but emotional and psychological ones as well, resulting in a different kind of trauma.
In addition to the harm to the employee, the organization is also impacted by loss in operations and productivity. This is not including the possible legal fines and other costs associated with loss of labor as well as costs to help the employee get better.
Provincial Workers' Compensation Boards and other resources
In Canada, when looking for compensation for a work-related injury, workers can contact the provincial workers’ compensation board in their province.
In the United States, the US Department of Labor has the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) which administers four major compensation programs which recompenses federal workers and other groups who are injured at work or acquire an occupational disease.